Oral Storytelling Web

All night epic-chanting in Malaita

[In Malaita, in the Solomon Islands] all night epic chanting ae ni mae done at memorial feasts honoring ancestors, is only for special occasions. Weddings also provide occasions for all night singing and story telling. At these times two rows of men sit facing each other and each man keeps time by clicking together two small sticks. At the head of the two lines sits the storyteller who chants the epic tales that follow.